


Second Chances

by Kittens



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abuse, Forgiveness, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22571191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittens/pseuds/Kittens
Summary: Kylo wanted something different between  him and Hux. But everything had gone so very wrong. The only thing he can do is beg Hux to give him a second chance.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 8
Kudos: 80
Collections: Kylux Positivity Week 2020





	Second Chances

Kylo hadn’t slept since Crait. He didn’t even know how long he’d been awake, dealing with the aftermath of Snoke’s death and the destruction of a good portion of the fleet. But that wasn’t what really concerned him. He’d done his duty as Supreme Leader and made sure the First Order was running smoothly. But there was one more task he needed to take care of before he could sleep, and that would be the most difficult of all.

He’d scribbled out what he’d wanted to say on a piece of paper. It was old-fashioned to write on paper, but Kylo found that it focused him better. In this case, it wasn’t really helping and he ended up throwing several pieces of paper on the floor and starting over. He just couldn’t find the right words to say.

By the time he’d finished, he was exhausted. He could have simply sent the note and gone to bed, but he needed to do it himself. He walked the short distance from his quarters to Hux’s and pressed the button to request entry.

There was no answer and Kylo wondered if Hux was even there. With so much going on, he’d been just as busy as Kylo. He wasn’t scheduled to be anywhere, but Hux had never stuck to his schedule, always going and doing whatever was needed. Just as Kylo was thinking about using his override to go in, the door slid open and Hux stood there.

It took Kylo a moment to realize that Hux was not in his uniform. He was in his pajamas. Kylo had never seen him out of his uniform before and he hadn’t realized just how small Hux was. 

“What do you want?” Hux spat. “I’m only getting two hours of sleep a night, and you want to interrupt even that?”

“I wanted to…” Kylo started to speak, but he realized he was still in the corridor. That wasn’t how he’d planned things. He didn’t want to talk to Hux where anyone could walk by and listen in. Not that most people would linger, but Kylo still wanted to be behind a closed door. “Can I come in?”

“I suppose I don’t have much of a choice anymore,” Hux said as he stepped out of the way.

Kylo walked inside, frowning at Hux’s choice of words. Of course he would thing that Kylo would simply bully him into getting his way. That was why he had come to see Hux. He needed to make things right between them.

“I…” Kylo still didn’t manage to say very much because he was once again distracted. This time, it was the bruises on Hux’s neck. They weren’t visible while Hux wore his uniform, but now, they were impossible to miss. The dark purple marks wrapped all the way around and Kylo knew that wasn’t the only injury Hux had.

“Come to admire your handiwork? Planning on adding to it?”

“No,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “I wanted to… I wanted to apologize.” 

Kylo and Hux just stared at each other and Kylo couldn’t tell if Hux was more angry or confused. He remembered that he had other things he wanted to say to Hux, but he couldn’t remember what. That’s why he’d written it down.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” he said, looking down at his paper. “I wanted -”

Hux pulled the paper out of Kylo’s hands, not letting him finish. 

“You’re really going to waste my time with this nonsense?” Hux asked, waving the paper in Kylo’s face. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it. Otherwise, get out of my quarters and please never return.”

Kylo was stunned. He thought that Hux would listen to what he had to say and that things would be better between them. It was all he’d ever wanted. But Hux didn’t even want to listen. And now that Hux had taken his paper, Kylo had no idea what to say.

“Get out!” Hux snapped at him. Kylo did as he was told. He wasn’t there to fight with Hux, but he’d clearly messed up worse than he thought. 

Maybe it was too soon. Maybe if he gave Hux a little more time, he might eventually listen to what Kylo had to say. In the meantime, maybe Kylo would find someone else to take over some of Hux’s duties. More sleep might put him in a better mood.

***

Kylo Ren ruined everything. That was just a fact. He’d been largely responsible for Starkiller’s destruction, Snoke’s death, letting the Resistance get away, and unless Hux could stop him, he would likely ruin the First Order as well. Of more concern at the moment was the fact that Ren had ruined what little sleep Hux had hoped to get.

He had no idea why Ren had shown up in the middle of the night cycle but Hux didn’t care. He was too tired to care. Ren had already shown Hux exactly what he’d do to him when he was displeased but Hux was beyond caring. Maybe Ren would knock him unconscious again and he could finally get some sleep. That was probably the only way he would get a chance to sleep again.

He’d been unable to go back to sleep since Ren woke him up so he decided he might as well try to get some work done before he needed to meet with the new stormtrooper captain. He was about to go over the meeting notes when he noticed an alert - the meeting with the stormtrooper captain had been canceled. No one had the authority to cancel that meeting except for Hux himself and he knew he hadn’t done it.

Had he done it accidentally? Or was there a glitch in the system? Hux started to look into it and he saw very quickly what was wrong. He really shouldn’t have been surprised to see Ren’s name involved. He had canceled the meeting. He hadn’t actually cancelled it. Instead, he’d scheduled it so that another general would be handling the meeting and Hux would be… he checked his schedule to see if there was something else that came up, but there was nothing.

Hux had expected Ren to demote him and take everything from him, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. Maybe it was because Hux had thrown him out and now Ren was mad and trying to take it out on him but taking away his responsibilities.

That left Hux with two choices - he either let things continue until he was demoted to insignificance or killed or… he could try to work things out with Ren. The idea was ridiculous enough that Hux would have laughed if it hadn’t been so painful. But what choice did he have?

He still had the note that he’d pulled from Ren’s hand. He might as well read it and see what Ren had planned on saying to him. And then he’d figure out what to do from there.

Hux had to read the note several times, sure that he had read it wrong. But even when he went over it slowly, the words remained unchanged, and Hux couldn’t think of any alternative interpretation of the words. 

It might have been better to wait before confronting Ren, but Ren had disturbed him. Why not return the favor. As he put his uniform on, he realized that barging into Ren’s quarters might end very badly for him, but if there was any truth in Ren’s note, then Hux would be safe. If it was all a manipulation, then maybe it didn’t matter if Ren killed him. At least that way he wouldn’t have to put up with Ren anymore.

Hux grabbed the note before he walked out of his quarters, reading over it once more. Maybe the fifth reading would reveal some detail that he’d overlooked before, but everything remained the same. When he made it to Ren’s door, Hux didn’t bother requesting entry. As general, he could open any door on the ship. Ren would surely change that soon, but for now, Hux would take advantage.

“Ren,” Hux said as he walked in. “What the hell is this?”

It was only after he’d spoken that he realized that Ren was sitting on the floor without a shirt on. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Hux hadn’t been expecting that, but he was glad that he at least had pants on. 

Soon a shirt flew across the room and was in Ren’s hand, and he put it on as he stood up. For a moment, Hux forgot what he was doing there, but once Ren walked towards him, he remembered. He pushed the note against Ren’s chest.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Hux demanded.

Ren took the note and looked at it, then looked back at Hux. “Did… did you read it?”

“No, Ren. I’m mad that you left a piece of trash in my room! What do you think?”

Ren didn’t say anything and Hux wasn’t sure what was going on. Why didn’t Ren say anything and why did he look like he was about to cry?

“I meant it,” Ren said, his voice low. “Everything in that note.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“You shouldn’t. I know I fucked up, Hux. But I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to hurt you.” Ren dropped down to his knees, looking up at Hux with tears in his eyes. “Ever since that day you kissed me. This is all I could think about. Giving you everything you wanted. Including me.”

Hux hadn’t expected that. Although his note had several apologies in it, he hadn’t realized why Ren seemed so upset about the entire thing. But it all made sense. Months ago, Hux had kissed Ren. He’d thought it would be fun, and maybe a better way to work out their differences. But Ren had pushed him away, saying he couldn’t, that it was forbidden for him.

“Did you kill Snoke because of that? Because you wanted to take me up on that offer? What makes you think I’d even still be open to that?”

“I don’t know,” Ren said. Tears were now flowing down his cheeks. His lightsaber floated towards them and Hux couldn’t help but flinch as Kylo plucked it from the air. But he didn’t ignite it. Instead, he held it up towards Hux. “Please, Hux. Armitage. Give me another chance. Let me prove to you that I love you.”

Love? Ren couldn’t be serious. But he thought about the words of his note, his apologies and his promise to make him emperor. Ren was impulsive and emotional. Had it really only taken a single kiss to push Ren over the edge to taking over the First Order? And did he really intend to give everything to Hux?

Hux reached out and took Ren’s saber. He wasn’t quite sure how it turned on, so he handled it with care. It wouldn’t do to turn it on and maim himself with it. As soon as he had the weapon in his hands, Ren lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Hux’s legs.

“I haven’t forgiven you yet,” Hux said. “I’ll give you until my injuries heal to prove yourself. If you can manage to be a decent person and not use your powers on me or destroy any equipment, then we can talk. Otherwise, I will leave the First Order.”

Ren held onto him tighter and Hux could feel his tears through his pants. He was going to have to change before his meeting. Well, that first one had been canceled. Which was a problem.

“Besides not abusing me, I don’t want you changing my meetings or interfering with my work in anyway. This should be obvious, but if you demote me, I will leave.”

“No,” Ren said, pulling away slightly and sitting back on his heels. “I wouldn’t. I just thought you needed more rest. You said you didn’t have much time for sleep. I thought it would help.”

Hux wasn’t sure if he believed that excuse. If it was true, then Hux didn’t know if he could stay mad at him. At least not about the meeting cancelation. It was almost… sweet that Ren cared, but Hux hated to think of anything that Ren did as sweet.

“I don’t need your help with my schedule,” Hux said. “I will sleep when I have time. I will let it slide this one time. Do not do this again, understand?”

Ren nodded and Hux couldn’t resist reaching out and stroking him on the cheek. When he’d kissed Ren, he’d only planned on fucking him. But Ren clearly had other ideas. Hux didn’t think he’d be interested in such an arrangement with him, but seeing Ren on his knees, promising to give him everything made Hux think.

He never wanted to end up in any sort of permanent relationship, but there had never been anyone who could make it worth his while. But Ren could make him emperor. Ren could enforce his rule. He would be a valuable ally, and Hux liked to imagine he’d be a suitable bedmate as well.

“You should know that I don’t offer second chances,” Hux said, his hand still on his cheek. “I will make an exception for you this one time. If anything goes wrong, we are done. Forever.”

“I know,” Ren whispered. He took Hux’s hand in his and brought it to his lips, gently kissing the back of his hand. “Whatever you want. It’s yours.”

“Take my shift on the bridge today,” Hux said. “Do not kill anyone. Do not terrorize anyone. You will be there only to make command decisions as necessary. Come to my quarters when your shift is over. I think I will take the chance to catch up on some sleep.”

“Yes, Grand Marshal,” Ren said.

Hux smiled. Their alliance already seemed to be paying off.


End file.
